A bill proposing to crack down on “fake farmers” taking advantage of the state’s farmland tax breaks is progressing through the New Jersey Assembly and could soon become law.

The farmland assessment law, enacted in 1964, currently allows property tax exemptions of up to 98 percent for anyone who farms on at least five acres and can prove they made $500 per year from farming during the previous two years.

A bill proposing to revise the law would raise the minimum farm revenue to $1,000 to qualify for the lower assessments, set stricter standards for property owners to prove farming is the main use of their land, and set training requirements for local property assessors to properly identify farmland.

The bill was passed by the Senate in June, and is currently progressing through the Assembly.

“We’re looking to clarify the statute, so that real farmers are able to take advantage of these assessments that are meant to be friendly to working farms,” said Assemblyman John Burzichelli, D-3rd Dist., one of the bill’s primary sponsors. “There have been some people who have been pushing the envelope on the definition of farming, where they’re not working the land but by technical definition are able to claim their property as farmland.”

The original act was meant to help preserve agriculture in the Garden State, but there have been documented cases of homeowners falsely claiming their properties as farmland to receive a drastic reduction on their property taxes, Burzichelli explained.

“We want farmers to have the incentive and advantage that will help them in their farm business, but we don’t want fake farmers taking advantage of those incentives,” he said.

According to Steven Caltabiano, president of the Salem County Board of Taxation, property assessors in Salem County began investigating possible abuse of farmland assessments between 2008 and 2010, following a state audit of farmland assessment applications.

As a result of the state audits, the Board of Taxation did a thorough review and inspection of farms with farmland assessment applications, and found that abuse was clearly taking place.

“During that time, I’d say close to 100 farms were disqualified during their applications,” said Caltabiano.

The board also revised the application process for receiving a farm assessment, requiring that a comprehensive form be filled out on an annual basis describing their land and how its being farmed, coupled with inspections conducted on a three-year cycle.

One component of the bill would amend the current law to require more criteria for training and education for assessors and assessment practices — but in this area, Caltabiano said Salem County is already ahead of the curve.

“Most assessors are part-time and resources are limited from town to town, but this bill will set more stringent criteria for making assessments, which is very important,” he said. “Salem County is already ahead of the curve with implementing some of these practices, and I absolutely support this bill. True farmers have nothing to worry about, it’s the person amassing property and abusing the system that needs to worry.”

While some have criticized the bill for not going far enough by only raising the revenue requirement for farms from $500 per year to $1,000 for the first five acres (and $5 for every additional acre, or 50-cents if the acre is woodland or wetland), others claim any increase at all risks cutting out some small-time farmers.

President of the Cumberland County Board of Agriculture Shirley Kline said her board discussed the bill and has decided to support it, but added that it leaves a bit to be desired.

“Personally, I don’t think it goes far enough, but life is about compromises,” said Kline. “I’m not sure why people don’t want to set (the revenue requirements) higher.”

She said the argument that smaller farms would be cut out of farmland assessment doesn’t really make much sense to her. On her small six-acre farm, Kline said she easily makes many times over the $1,000 requirement.

Still, even a slight update to the nearly five-decade-old assessment law is welcomed by Cumberland’s board of agriculture.

“We know of some farms that were receiving a farmland assessment, but weren’t really working their ground — fake farmers,” said Kline. “Our hope is that this bill will help cut out some of those, but I’m not sure that it will.”

The bill has received support from the New Jersey Farm Bureau, which has been working with legislatures to help craft it.

NJFB President Richard Nieuwenhuis said he believes the bill is the right balance between tightening up loopholes, while protecting true farmers.

“I think it’s very good, and the New Jersey Farm Bureau is 100-percent behind it,” said Nieuwenhuis. “It tightens up the farmland assessment act, while leaving legitimate farmers free from any harm.”